Marine vessels, particularly those with helms or control stations located away from the marine propulsion devices, require some way to allow the marine vessel operator to be located at a helm or control station and be able to control operation of the marine vessel. This control includes the throttle control, steering control, and the monitoring of various operating parameters relating to the vessel. Marine vessel control systems utilizing “drive-by-wire” throttle and shift control arrangements are well-known, in which electronic signals are transmitted between the control station and the marine propulsion system to affect steering and/or engine speed control.
Various types of control systems have been developed to allow an operator to control a marine vessel. Some control systems incorporate numerous components that are connected by individual conductive wires to a central control station. Similarly, gauges are individually connected by conductive wire to various sensors in a typical application. Alternatively, other systems use a common communication bus to which all devices in the system are connected. One type of common communication bus is known as the controller area network (CAN) bus. CAN systems have been used for many years and are well known to those skilled in the art of marine vessel controls. The CAN bus can operate in extremely harsh environments and has extensive error checking mechanisms that ensure that any transmission errors are detected. The basic protocol of the CAN system can be used to accomplish many different control tasks and provide an arbitration scheme that effectively eliminates collisions or interferences between message packets transmitted by the multiple devices connected thereto. Thus, CAN systems are effective in avoiding interference between the signal from one device and a signal from another device. Different CAN system protocols, architectures, and arrangements are known in the relevant field of marine vessel controls, examples of which are shown and described in the following patents, which are each incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,771 discloses a control system for a marine vessel that incorporates a marine propulsion system that can be attached to a marine vessel and connected in signal communication with a serial communication bus and a controller. A plurality of input devices and output devices are also connected in signal communication with the communication bus and a bus access manager, such as a CAN Kingdom network, is connected in signal communication with the controller to regulate the incorporation of additional devices to the plurality of devices in signal communication with the bus whereby the controller is connected in signal communication with each of the plurality of devices on the communication bus. The input and output devices can each transmit messages to the serial communication bus for receipt by other devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,122 discloses an auto-detect system for a marine vessel in which the various associations and relationships between marine propulsion devices, gauges, sensors, and other components are quickly and easily determined. The system performs a method which automatically determines the number of marine propulsion devices on the marine vessel and, where needed, prompts the boat builder or marine vessel outfitter to enter various commands to identify particular marine propulsion devices with reference to their location on the marine vessel and to identify certain other components, such as gauges, with reference to both their location at a particular helm station and their association with a particular marine propulsion device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,941,253 discloses a marine propulsion drive-by-wire control system that controls multiple marine engines, each one or more PCMs, propulsion controllers for controlling engine functions which may include steering or vessel vectoring. A helm has multiple ECUs, electronic control units, for controlling the multiple marine engines. A CAN, controller area network, bus connects the ECUs and PCMs with multiple PCM and ECU buses. The ECU buses are connected through respective isolation circuits isolating the respective ECU bus from spurious signals in another ECU bus.